Match of the week

Bacchus with asparagus with gnocchi and wild garlic pesto

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on March 25 2024 at 10:06

With the home grown asparagus season kicking off and wild garlic in full bloom you may well be thinking of combining the two as my friend TV presenter Andy Clarke did this weekend when a group of us stayed at Wraxall vineyard in Somerset.

Andy had devised the dish to go with Wraxall’s Bacchus which it did perfectly.

Bacchus is a grape variety that does well in England. As the website Grape Britannia explains, it’s a cross of Muller-Thurgau with a Silvaner/Riesling cross, Silvaner itself being a cross of Traminer and Oesterreichish Weiss, while Muller-Thurgau is a Riesling/Madeleine Royal cross.

If you find it hard getting your head round this (me too!) just think of it as England’s answer to sauvignon blanc.

I personally liked the pairing of the delicate unoaked 2021 Wraxall Bacchus which you can buy from their website for £18 a bottle best with the assertive flavours of asparagus and wild garlic but the oaked version, which won a silver medal last year in the Independent English Wine Awards, picked up on the buttery toasted crumbs which Andy had scattered over the dish and would be a good match for richer, creamier sauces.

Anyway bear in mind Bacchus with asparagus over the next few weeks - and beyond.

For other Bacchus pairings see here

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